A golf specific artificial limb won't change the world, but it sure could change the life of an amputee who loves the game.

Researchers at the University of South Florida are studying a one-of-a-kind, golf-specific prosthetic arm, which could allow amputees to hit the links again. It's the first in what the researchers hope will be a fascinating new field: sport-specific prosthetic limbs.

“Can these people muster a reasonable swing sufficient to enjoy recreational participation in golf?” asked Jason Highsmith, assistant professor in the USF School of Physical Therapy and Rehabilitation Sciences. So far, yes. And there's more good news: The amputees also showed they could play using the prosthesis without much training.

This is obviously awesome- and doesn't need too much comment. I hope this catches on sooner than later, and most importantly, that it can be done in an affordable way. We need more people playing golf and enjoying the game- regardless of if their arm is natural.

birdieXris says:I don't see why this was so far off. Amputee runners have specifically designed prosthesis that are more like springs than the normal artificial limbs you see nowadays, this is the next logical step for sure! good find.

brian575 says:As a USF grad I say kudos for the effort. My senior mechanical engineering project was to design a device that could be used by a person that had only the full use of one limp (dominate arm) to play golf. Our device was impracticable and did not function fully but it was an effort. The rehabilitation department at USF does a lot of research into improving the quality of life for persons with physical disabilities. I hope they keep up the good work.

Pappybro says:It is cool. I have one-and-a-half functioning legs along with a few other broken parts(war injuries) and the braces I use are light-years ahead of what I first started with. Hasn't helped my game, but I can enjoy it a lot more.

9/15/10

KVSmith59 says:"Researchers have yet to analyze all the data, but so far the study shows that the head speed of an amputee player's club is somewhat slower than the swing of a non-amputee. Head speed measures how fast a player can drive the ball, and the highest an amputee in the study could reach was 95 feet per second, compared with 121 for a non-amputee volunteer."

That's pretty good...what around 65MPH swing speed?. More than enough to get the ball moving....probably won't be able to make monster drives, but enough speed to get it down there...